Category Archives: Burly Beards

The Ladies of Beards of Denver are always ready, willing, and able to meet an impressive bearded man, but it was a first to meet a fabulous bearded man whose name IS Ready, but that’s just what we’ve got for you today. Ready, who we encountered at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver while waiting for the band Shel to perform, proudly declared that he hasn’t shaved in five or six years, hence his burly mane. His beard is generated largely from laziness, and we don’t mind one bit. Ready said he can easily keep his beard long and luxurious because he’s been traveling so much: he lives in upstate New York and was visiting Denver to attend all three Phish shows at the end of August, and then was planning to head to South America. When asked his mom’s opinion of his beard, Ready shared that she doesn’t like it much because she thinks it makes him look “old and scruffy.” Move to Denver, Ready, where the beard love is unabashed and literally ready to embrace you!

Beards of Denver fans, we bring you today a Denver dude who has stayed true to the beard tradition even being literally thousands of miles away: meet Preston, who has been living in Afghanistan since January 2013. Preston contacted B of D from the base of the northern Afghanistan mountains (through the power of the mighty Facebook) and we are ever-so-glad he did. Preston is a true beard-liever, as even the summer heat of Afghanistan was no match for he and his beard; it stayed all summer, and he even proudly stated, “If I won’t shave my beard for a girl, Afghanistan stands no chance.” Preston is a fairly recent Denver transplant, moving to the Five Points neighborhood of our wonderful city in November 2012, and if all goes as planned he will be back in town shortly after the new year. Preston relocated to Denver for many fantastic reasons, including the abundance of sunshine allowing for long motorcycle rides with his beard blowing in the wind, as well as the many options for skiing and riding: this beard does them both! Having formerly served in the Air Force for six years, Preston now flies UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) for a company and this allows him to live, and grow his beard, where he chooses. He can’t wait to come back home to Denver and enjoy the craft beer, mountain biking, camping, and of course, get many more compliments on that gorgeous beard. This photo featuring Preston and his beard documents his recent “YEARD” achievement: the first time he has ever let his beard grow a full year! We could not be prouder, and approve of that cigar of celebration. Take care Preston and can’t wait to admire that beard in person when you’re back in D-Town!

Here in Denver, we are fortunate for so many reasons. We have tons of breweries from which to sample so much frothy deliciousness; we are able to get around on bikes almost anywhere in our wonderful city; and every night of the week there are a multitude of great live music choices to see. It is at one of our favorite venues, the Larimer Lounge, where we met Nate and his stop-you-in-your-tracks beard. We were there to see two wonderful bands–Shel out of Fort Collins and Whiskey Shivers out of Austin–and were pleasantly surprised to meet Nate between sets. Nate has been growing his amazing mane on and off since 2004, and has lived in Denver about 13 years. When he’s not playing the role of volunteer roadie for Shel he works at Renegade Publik House in Denver, which features many of the aforementioned delicious brews. Nate said his mom has a love/hate relationship with his beard (clearly we need to get her over to our side of pure appreciation) and–get ready for this ladies–he has no sweetheart!? With a beard like this and that much dapper style, that won’t be the case for long. Thanks Nate! We’ll be by Renegade to see you, and admire that beard of yours, soon!

As fans of Beards of Denver have likely come to know, the Ladies of Beards of Denver are very dedicated to the documentation and appreciation of The Beard. This story may not surprise most of you, then, as The Pursuit of Donald (as we’ll call it) involved chasing him down Broadway (a rather busy Denver thoroughfare) into Sputnik (one of our preferred watering holes) to get the story of his fantastic beard and bring it to you, our much-loved public. Donald and his impressive black beard, were on vacation a few months back in our fair city. From Kansas, Donald told us he had road-tripped to Denver to attend a family reunion and he said his family tolerates his beard because “They know I won’t change.” We would never want you to change that beard, Donald. Not ever. Donald told us his beard originates from laziness and that it also is a mechanism to become instant friends with other dudes with beards, and we can see why. When not attending to his beard, Donald reads a lot of non-fiction and plays a lot of guitar. You can serenade us and read to us by the fire any day Donald, as long as you keep that beard growing! (In case you’re curious, Donald’s bad-ass t-shirt features this band).

Here at Beards of Denver, we are thankful for ALL the beards we encounter, but we are especially grateful for meeting Charlie during the Underground Music Showcase at the end of July. Charlie and his bad-ass beard were preparing to perform at UMS with the band Thanks to Philo, a blues-rock-reggae crew Charlie’s been the drummer in for three years. Charlie, who lives in Parker, says people love his beard and he gets a lot of attention for it (why are we not surprised he has other beard-groupies?) The only reason he has shaved in recent memory is for a charity event for the Children’s Miracle Network; obviously, his is one philanthropic mane, folks. The lesson here is ONLY shave if it’s ABSOLUTELY necessary for the children. Charlie’s family has polarizing opinions on his beard: his mom and his sweetheart love it while his dad isn’t a fan (likely because he only has a ‘stache himself). We’re with Charlie’s ladies on this one; a man with this stylin’ of a beard is apt to keep smart women around! Keep up the good growth, Charlie!

Here at Beards of Denver we can’t get enough of our Ginger Beards. When Zac reached out to us to share his amazing beard, we were thrilled. Zac has been growing his beard on the regular for about six years, ever since he met his wife Blanca. It’s only been in the past four months that Zac has let his beard grow and really “be itself”. This bold move of free-flowing Beard Growth has earned him the nickname “BeardMan” with his colleagues at Wright Tree service, where he is the head foreman for the dead beetle kill trees in the Rockies west of Boulder.He and his Blanca moved to Denver about a year ago from Deadwood, South Dakota and can’t imagine living anywhere else, and we can’t imagine having this great beard move away! Bianca loves Zac’s beard because she feels it’s extremely unique and not just any man can grow a beard like his; we have to agree! Thanks Zac!

Some men are born funny, some men are born to grow beards, but it’s the rare gem who’s born to do both. Luckily for you, Beards of Denver fans, we’ve brought him to you. Meet Adrian Mesa and his amazing beard. Adrian, who is originally from Florida, now calls Denver home, which is fortunate for all of us because not only can he grow a bad-ass beard, he’ll also make you laugh on the regular as he often performs stand-up at Comedy Works and also hosts a monthly comedy-event at The Deer Pile called 3 Course Comedy. Held every fourth Thursday, 3 Course Comedy brings in three comedians who prep an app, main course, and dessert for the audience whilst delivering food-based jokes; sounds like a winning recipe to us! Adrian’s beard here is representative of four months of stellar growth; we certainly hope he keeps it up!

As fans of Beards of Denver may not be surprised to learn, Red Rocks is a mecca for spotting epic beards. But when we saw Sean Walrad tailgating before the Avett Brothers show recently, we knew we’d discovered a bearded diamond in the rough. Sean, who lives in Colorado Springs and is a tattoo artist at Nostalgia Tattoo Co. there, not only can obviously grow an impressive beard, he has used his stunning handsomeness to his advantage, trying out to be a beard model in Bend, Oregon after he had heard about European Beard Model competitions (that sounds like a trip we need to take!) Sean, who’s a huge Colorado Avalanche fan, told us he and many others specifically will grow out their beards when the Stanley Cup starts, which seems like as good a reason as any for showing off that rad facial hair. When we asked Sean’s lovely sweetheart Mandy if she was a fan of his beard, she noted she couldn’t imagine him without it, since he’s had it the entire three years of their courtship. She did say though that sometimes she grabs his beard at night instead of a blanket, which really seems like a better thing to nuzzle up in anyway! Also, apparently Sean and Mandy’s cats aren’t afraid to curl right up in all that bearded-fierce-fantasticness, either! Those cats RECOGNIZE. Thanks Sean! We now know where we can get an awesome tatt AND gaze at an amazing beard.

We met up with J. about a month ago at one of our favorite beard hunting grounds in the city: Goosetown Tavern. Not only does J. rock an amazingly impressive beard (and awesome “Keep Denver Beard” t-shirt), he is also a complete and delightful southern Mississippi gentleman to boot. And J. isn’t an alias; he was named after his dad’s best friend J.P. and has gone by J. his entire life. He originally moved to Denver a few years ago from Mississippi to attend culinary school, and now works at the multiple (and delicious) Moe’s BBQ locations, where they are very welcoming of beard culture (and Makers Mark shots, which we approve of, naturally). This is the first time J. has grown his beard this long, and he said his roommate had one and that was part of the inspiration to grow his out. While his mom isn’t his beard’s biggest fan, he does believe his dad has some Beard Envy (and we can see why!) J.’s an Eagle Scout from back in the day, and if we had any say, he’d definitely earn the badge for Bad-Ass Beard! Keep up the great beard work J.!

The B of D went on a spiritual journey last weekend and traveled to Telluride (aka beard mecca) for the 40th anniversary of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Oh boy, get ready for some fun festival beards! We kick off our T-town special with a return visit from one of B of D’s favorite beards. Remember Coleman? Manly name, manly beard? We were lucky enough to bluegrass jam with Coleman and his bearded crew for much of the weekend. Coleman is known for having one of the best beards in Denver, having possibly the most fabulous sweetheart in Denver (she’s a big supporter of the bearded cause) and he loves to protect the beautiful Rockies by occasionally putting out a wild fire or two. Thanks for saying ‘no’ to the razor, Coleman. No one works that bearded magic quite like you do!